If you are considering a keratin treatment try this first!

[TheWombat]

I’ve been following the keratin treatment threads that proliferated before Christmas and have been umming and ahhing over going back to getting regular treatments after a year’s break. The cost (£230 in my local salon for my elbow length hair) puts me off, along with the fact it doesn’t completely get rid of frizz

Anyway as a last ditch effort before I went ahead and booked one, I bought this:

Color Wow Dream Coat

It’s a heat activated spray - you apply it on damp hair before blow drying. I spritzed it around (not v carefully) and then did the ‘reverse blow dry’ as per Sarah Angius (link here).

That was 4 days ago. Since then, I’ve had the best hair of my actual life! The weather has thrown everything at my hair - rain, sleet, snow, wind - and it’s remained smooth and glossy. And then I washed it today, and just used my normal heat protectant (not the magic spray) to blow dry. The magic color wow spray appears to still be working despite shampoo and conditioning and it took me approx 10 mins to dry my hair into shiny, hair-advert hair.

My hair is not shiny, hair-advert hair. I have long frizzy, fine, dry straw. Tbh I am slightly agog at what chemicals must have coated my hair to result in this apparent transformation but, I don’t care swish and I thought you should all know. If you’re considering forking out for a keratin treatment and don’t mind faffing about for 10 mins with a round brush as per the YouTube clip, it’s worth a try. Your mileage may vary, etc etc..

Ooh thanks. Might order this tomorrow! Dunno if i can be arsed with miss bobble head though

I think as long as you use some kind of heat on your hair it should work..

It was too heavy for my hair, but I've heard good feedback for thicker/ longer hair types.

I don't understand why they say it's silicone free when the ingredients tell a very different story. That's how it works, it effectively coats your hair in a film so everything bounces off it.

I was really confused by this. I had a sample, think m&s beauty box, enough to use three times and I really liked it. Bought a full sized version and I can't say it does anything for my hair!

I've found this with a few products, samples seem great then when you shell out for the full size it's not as effective - or is that just me?

I wondered about that Bombardier because imagine the build up on your hair over time...

I’ve got relatively fine hair and I didn’t find it worked particularly well. It definitely left my hair feeling coated. Needless to say I get keratin blow drys now.

Interesting - I wonder what makes it such a game changer for me. It doesn’t feel coated but that’s clearly how it works- I’ll be gutted if it ends up wrecking my hair in the longer term...

Gave it a whirl today on the back of your post.... I'm in love. My hair is so sleek and shiny!

I think if you use a clarifying shampoo every couple of weeks (I only wash my hair once or twice a week) it'll be fine.

I've also heard good things about the Color wow one minute transformation which is a cream you put on dry hair. Meant to be a great anti frizz product. Anyone tried it?

No but I use their kale treatment. It’s fab. Like the dream coat, you do need to detox every so often as it builds up. However, it has transformed my fine dull hair into swishy loveliness- and the shine!!

I got this in the Harper’s beauty box before Christmas, it’s amazing, would highly recommend

You do need plenty of it though

Would it work if you sprayed it and then left it to air dry, then just straighten your hair the next day? I despise blow drying my hair as I have thick thick hair and it takes about 30-40 mins 😭

I've had 4 keratin treatments in the last 7 years or so, and they are the only thing that has ever been fully effective on my very wilful, pouffy, shoulder-blade length hair. My hair is fine to medium but it's dense with a rough texture, and so "strong" that it pushes out rubber grips and clips - not much holds it.

I also resent paying £180 for a treatment that tends to only last 7-8 weeks. I really want to try the Wow Dreamcoat, but there are quite a few poor reviews on Amazon! Not sure whether to take the plunge at £24 a bottle...

@Elephantina if you click the link the OP used its only £12 a bottle, maybe a smaller size?

Nice one Wakeup thank you, I hadn't realised - it's for 50ml instead of 200ml, so good as a trial!

I've ordered some, will report back.

Good luck @Elephantina !

Ive ordered it and the one minute transformation cream!

I have colour wow. I am sure it said on the box, best used every 3 washes. I assume to avoid build up. I used it and it's ok. But don't use it just before you colour your hair. It didn't seem to take as well.

Anyone find it was difficult to get volume into their hair after using it?

I loved it at first but it builds up quickly and feels like wax on hair.

Well, I suppose it is all called DreamCOAT - anything with that amount of silicone in it will build up on the hair steadily unless you remove it with a clarifying shampoo occasionally.

You don't really even need a clarifying shampoo, any shampoo with sulphates but no silicones will remove build up. I like the Faith in Nature range.

Even a keratin treatment is a coating - the only way to reduce frizz and smooth the hair shaft is to flatten the cuticle and seal it, otherwise it won't work. That's why moisturing treatments don't help my hair - it feels lovely and soft, but as it plumps out the cuticle I look more like Hagrid than ever!

Woop, I’m so glad that some others have found it good too
Took a couple of photos last night. As you can see it’s not poker straight or 100% frizz free, but it feels soooo much shinier and swishier than before. More glossy/bouncy than overly straightened. And it stays like that until I wash it again - with a keratin treatment I’d get one day out of my hair before it looked sort of ‘creased’.

It seems to last for about 2 washes, and then I use it again. Dreading product build-up so does anyone have a good recommendation for a clarifying shampoo? Currently using Redken all soft which does have sulphates in it, but also silicone so 🤷‍♀️

My small bottle arrived and I tried it for the first time yesterday.

Oh. My. Goodness. This shit actually works! I didn't use very much, just evenly sprayed my long hair one third at a time, then blow-dried it pointing the nozzle down the hair shaft and vaguely pulling a brush through it (I have neither the strength, expertise or 8 arms for correctly blow-drying hair straight).

It still looked faintly fluffy after drying, but certainly not as pouffy as usual - and after tying it up without straightening and forgetting about it for a few hours, I took it down to tidy it up and was amazed. I still ran the straighteners through it to smooth some ends and flyaways and give it a finished look, but it was instantly very sleek, and still is today!

I can't speak for its anti-humidity properties, but tbh I'm just delighted that it de-bouffants my Hagrid coiffure.

It doesn't feel waxy to me, but I didn't use much and obviously I haven't had it build up yet. Will report back on that, but I use a gentle clarifying shampoo every wash so it may not build up anyway - and you can buy decent clarifying shampoos.

One other point is that it has a very faint chemical smell when you first spray it on, and no perfume at all. I like my hair to smell nice, so having no scent at all is a bit weird, but it just smells of clean hair I suppose.

In any event, it has worked wonders for me (and saved me £160 on a keratin treatment) so thanks @TheWombat!

Wow, your hair is gooooooorgeous OP!

Wow, looks promising, your hair looks gorgeous indeed. I've heard a lot about it but was afraid to try, it was also pricey. I'm glad that it's possible to perform a keratin treatment at home now. I checked the article and a few forums about it and now I'm extra tempted to try it.